Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Everything was just following the rules; to put it bluntly, it was just a matter of criticizing them for being too harsh in their enforcement.

Even if she wasn't liked by the villagers, she shouldn't be so disliked.

“Shisui, you’re not some fool who can be easily fooled. I don’t think I can fool you with my eloquence. I’ll be frank. The reason why the police department has such a bad reputation is because someone is interfering. Some people are stirring up hostility among the villagers towards the police department and the Uchiha clan.”

"Our clan has fallen to this state for a reason, but ultimately, I believe the greater fault lies with the coercion by the Third Hokage and others."

"To be honest, not many people really like coups. What's the point of killing your own people? But if you ask me, the problem now is that the village is the one that's forcing us down this path of coup."

"Sōgen, the Third Hokage wasn't... It was Danzō who targeted our clan..."

Zhi Shui tried to explain, but his words were hesitant and lacked conviction.

He wasn't stupid. Even though he firmly believed in the Will of Fire, it didn't mean he was blind to the village's oppression and coercion of his family.

It was only because of his father's teachings that he was used to seeing everything from the village's perspective and thinking about problems from the village's point of view. Fortunately, he still had feelings for his family and did not directly side with the village. Instead, he hoped that the village and his family could coexist peacefully and be inseparable.

He believed that the family was part of the village, and that the family should not be separated from or in conflict with the village, but rather should actively integrate into it...

However, he hopes to achieve such a future, but he doesn't know how to reach this wonderful future.

Ideals alone cannot solve problems.

However, before he could weather more storms and find a solution, the conflict had already escalated. The clansmen, unable to bear the oppression from the village, gritted their teeth and began plotting a coup, embarking on a hopeless path.

This is where Shisui's despair arose.

Even Kotoamatsukami couldn't possibly change the thoughts of so many people!

"This is not the fault of just one person. The Third Hokage, the two elders, and that old man Danzo... They inherited the Second Hokage's vigilance and wariness towards our clan, but they did not learn the magnanimity to accept the Uchiha as disciples."

Zongxian didn't criticize the Second Hokage too much. After all, Shisui's ancestor, Uchiha Kagami, was the Second Hokage's disciple, and it was pointless to be harsh on a dead man.

He looked directly into Shisui's eyes. "Shisui, no matter what you think, in my opinion, it is they who have driven our clan to this point."

"Zong Xian!!!"

The popsicle in Shisui's hand was slowly melting, and he frowned deeply.

"What are you trying to do by saying all this? Try to persuade me to support the coup of our people? The problem is that it's a dead end. Whether the coup succeeds or not, our people will not have a good ending."

"So, can we survive by enduring humiliation and hardship? What have we done wrong? Why must we live such a miserable life? Is it because of Madara Uchiha? Or that unknown Uchiha clan powerhouse during the Nine-Tails' attack? Are we just supposed to suffer because of their mistakes?"

Zongxian's voice rose considerably.

The two friends stared at each other for a long time. Zongxian calmed down, coughed lightly, and said, "I'll say it again. If I were the Hokage, I would probably also be hostile to the Uchiha clan. The problem is that I am not the Hokage. I am an Uchiha. Before considering the overall situation of the village, even if not for myself, I have to consider my parents and my sister first."

The village considers the Uchiha clan to be a ticking time bomb, unsure when it will explode and harm the village, so they have been working hard to defuse and deal with this bomb.

The Uchiha believed that the village was being too harsh and deliberately suppressing them, so they thought that rather than waiting for the noose to tighten around their necks, they should strike first.

This is the current situation of Konoha Village and the Uchiha clan!

"Zongxian, what exactly are you trying to achieve by saying all this?"

Shisui let the popsicle in his hand melt, trying his best to remain calm, and asked, "Tell me, Zongxian, what do you want to do? Since you're saying this, you must have already thought about it, right? The issues between the village and the clan can't be explained in just a few words. Just tell me what you want to do!"

As expected of a genius of the Uchiha clan, he was not distracted by Uchiha Sogen's words and keenly noticed a clue.

After biting off the last piece of popsicle and crunching it to pieces, Zongxian threw away the popsicle stick and said directly, "Shisui, I want you to help me change the Uchiha clan."

"what?"

Shisui frowned slightly.

Change the Uchiha? How exactly do you do that? He desperately wanted to change the Uchiha, but the problem was that he had no idea how. He always felt like a traveler walking in the dark, searching for a glimmer of hope in the indistinguishable darkness.

"What are your thoughts on Clan Chief Fugaku?"

"Clan leader?"

Shisui was confused. The topic had changed too quickly. Wasn't the plan to change the Uchiha clan? How did it turn into talking about the clan leader?

"I need you to help me become the next head of the Uchiha clan!"

This was clearly a statement designed to shock and provoke. Shisui was so startled by the words that his eyebrows shot up, the ice cube fell to the ground with a thud, and he was holding a smooth popsicle stick in his hand.

"Zongxian, you..."

Zhi Shui was really having trouble making sense of things right now.

Shouldn't their conversation be about changing the Uchiha clan? Why has it circled back to a coup, replacing the clan head Fugaku...? Is this some kind of rehearsal for a coup within the clan?

"If we want to change the Uchiha clan, we need power; otherwise, who will listen to us if we just talk the talk?"

"But, but...we can also persuade the clan chief..."

"I don't believe him."

Zongxian curled his lip and said coldly, "I don't trust Clan Chief Fugaku. How should I put it? He's quite indecisive. During the Nine-Tails' rampage, he accepted the Third Hokage's order to stay and guard the clan's territory. At that time, the Fourth Hokage was the proper Hokage! Supporting the Fourth Hokage would have been the absolutely correct choice, but he..."

"And later, when the clan's territory was relocated, not only did he not speak up for the clan members to protest, but in order to protect the so-called big picture, he actually helped the village suppress the opposition within the clan. He did protect the big picture, but the problem is that the village completely disregarded the feelings of us Uchiha."

"Now, the village leadership is suppressing us more and more ruthlessly. The radicals have gained the upper hand within the clan, and it seems the clan chief is preparing to support them in plotting a coup. He's swaying back and forth like a roly-poly toy; I have no idea what he's thinking all day..."

"And when Itachi Uchiha went on a killing spree in the future, he chose to sit idly by and wait for his death. By the end, only his youngest son was left alive in the Uchiha clan!" Zongxian didn't say these words out loud, but just pondered them in his mind.

He now hates Obito Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha the most, followed by Fugaku, the clan head. Even Danzo has to be ranked lower, since Danzo's position is not biased and he has always been clear about his identity.

A disciple of the Second Hokage, an assistant to the Hokage, the leader of Root, and... an enemy of the Uchiha clan.

This is Danzo's position.

So no matter how cruel his methods are... you can hate him, you can curse him, you can even dig up Danzo's ancestral graves, but there's nothing to complain about!

To deal with an extremely dangerous enemy, one must exhaust all means.

This is only natural.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha clan leader never seemed to understand his own role, constantly wavering between the village and the clan, completely failing to fulfill his responsibilities as clan leader. In the end, he simply shrugged and died a quick death, but so many clan members died with their eyes wide open in dismay.

The greatest misfortune for the Uchiha clan is that such a person is the clan leader!

[4. Chapter Four: Seeds (Please add to your favorites! Please invest!)]

"Do you think you can do a better job than Chief Fugaku?"

"At least it won't be worse than it is now."

"You really dare to say that!"

“I’m already doing it.”

Shisui was stunned, staring wide-eyed at Uchiha Sogen, as if he were getting to know his friend all over again.

Uchiha Sogen met Shisui's scrutinizing gaze with composure.

“Zhishui, you’re not the only one who sees the family’s predicament. There are many intelligent people in the family! But the situation is what it is, and it can’t be reversed by just a few people. We have all been working hard to prevent the family from falling into the worst possible situation.”

"us?"

Suddenly, Shisui couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness and desolation.

When did he cease to be part of "us"?

Is he being ostracized?

He must have been ostracized!

"Don't think that everyone is ostracizing you. Don't forget that you are currently the only Anbu member of our Uchiha clan. You are too close to the Third Hokage and the others. Of course, it's not that everyone thinks you will betray the clan, but they just think you probably won't support our ideas, so..."

"Then why are you telling me all this now?"

"The situation has changed."

Zongxian turned his body and turned his gaze toward the direction of the Ninja Academy. The fact that the Sunny Pillar had enrolled was a clear signal. According to the original course of history, the bloody night of the massacre of the clan would arrive in about two years.

Even if his arrival might disrupt the original process, who knows if the night of annihilation would be postponed, brought forward, or simply distorted and disappeared?

All he knew was that the Uchiha clan, under the leadership of Clan Chief Fugaku, was on the verge of plotting a coup. If left unchecked, even without the massacre, the Uchiha clan would plunge into an abyss of no return.

The sense of urgency has become stronger than ever before.

It's important to understand that it wasn't just the village's upper echelons, led by the Third Hokage, who wanted the Uchiha clan wiped out; Obito Uchiha, a man who had already gone mad, was also involved...

"There is no time for us to make more thorough preparations now. Once Chief Fugaku fully expresses his support for the radicals and gains the support of the majority... then it will be beyond our ability to shake him. The coup plot will then proceed irreversibly. Therefore, we must take action and produce results before that happens."

Zongxian's words were truly powerful and resounding.

It powerfully demonstrated that unwavering determination.

Shisui remained silent for about two minutes before asking, "If, and I mean if, you really did replace Chief Fugaku, what are you going to do?"

"I forget which book I read this about, but it contained a quote from a great man: 'Peace is achieved through struggle, but it is lost through compromise. Peace is not something to beg for, but something to fight for.' I wholeheartedly agree with this."

"Only when the Third Hokage and Danzo know that the Uchiha are not toothless tigers, and that we have the determination and strength to fight to the death, will they stop suppressing us as they are now."

“But if you do this, you will completely sever the Uchiha clan from the village.”

Shisui remained calm and asked a question.

"I know."

Zongxian did not deny it, "But even if we don't do that, do you think the Third Hokage and the others will genuinely accept the Uchiha clan and integrate them into the village? In my opinion, they are completely eager to get rid of our clan. I don't expect to live peacefully with these old fogies at all. When the Fifth Hokage comes to power, that will be the opportunity for the Uchiha to be reborn."

"The Godaime?"

Shisui tried hard to think and follow Zongxian's train of thought.

"The Third Hokage, Danzo, Elder Utatane, Elder Mito... these old guys' perceptions and views of our clan are already fixed. There is only one way to expect them to change their attitude, and that is for you, Shisui, to use Kotoamatsukami to modify their thinking. But your eye power probably can't modify the will and thinking of so many people, and you probably don't like doing this kind of thing."

Zongxian shrugged.

"Since we can't rely on the Third Hokage and the others, we can only set our sights on the Fifth Hokage. In my opinion, the only people qualified to succeed the Fifth Hokage are Jiraiya or Tsunade, two of the Legendary Sannin."

"But they are also disciples of the Third Hokage."

"They are indeed disciples, but as far as I know, these two have different ideas from the Third Hokage and his generation. At the very least, they shouldn't be so hostile towards our clan. Of course, it's ultimately inappropriate to place our hopes on others, and the Uchiha clan also needs to adapt to the changing times."

"I need your help for this."

"Shisui, for the sake of the family's survival, I hope you will stand on my side."

Zongxian extended the invitation in a dignified and respectable manner.

"I can't answer you right now. I need to see for myself what's going on in the family." Shisui remained reserved. No matter how eloquent Zongxian's words were, one-sided accounts always left people with doubts. He needed to understand more about the family's situation before he could make a decision.